Societal Curriculum Effects of Television on Social Values ...

Bulletin of Education and Research April 2017, Vol. 39, No. 1 pp. 75-89

Societal Curriculum: Effects of Television on Social Values System in Pakistani Society

Syeda Tahira Shah* and Farhana Khurshid** ______________________________________________________________ Abstract

A curriculum is all the experiences that an individual has in the course of living. Television media, the most important component of the societal curriculum has been receiving increasing scholarly attention. It has become an integral part of our lives and portrays our religious, cultural and societal norms and practices. This study explores the effects of television media as a source of informal curriculum on the social and religious value practices in Pakistani society. For the study, mixed methods were utilised whereby the quantitative data was collected through a five point Likert scale questionnaire from 100 students selected purposively from four universities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. In addition, three focus group discussions were conducted with 15 students (five students each group), yielding the qualitative data. The findings of the study indicate that television has a strong influence, specifically; the way dramas, news and advertisements are presented. This has brought conflicting effects to the social and religious value system and practices of our society in general and particularly, on youth. Keywords: Societal curriculum, social value system, television media

* M.A Education, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Islamabad-Pakistan. Email: tahirashah666@ **Assistant Professor, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Islamabad-Pakistan. Email: f.khurshid@fjwu.edu.pk

Societal Curriculum: Effects of Television on Social Values System in Pakistani Society 76

Introduction

Schools are not the whole of education; they are the part of the education system. When curriculum is mentioned, most people think of school curriculum, whether manifest or hidden (Wear & Skillicorn, 2009). In reality, two curricula operate side by side. In addition to the education we receive in schools through the formal curriculum, all of us receive a lifelong education through the societal curriculum (Cortes, 1981). Therefore, the question here arises, what is this societal curriculum? It is the massive, ongoing, informal curriculum of family, peer groups, neighborhoods, church organizations, occupations, mass media and other socializing forces that "educate" all of us throughout our lives (Cortes, 1981). As one of the most important components of the societal curriculum or informal curriculum, television has received increasing scholarly attention (Cort?s, 1979). One study reported that adolescents in America spend an average 28 hours per week watching television (UNESCO's statement, 2000). This shows that television is the most powerful medium impacting through its content e.g. infotainment, which is in fact an important aspect of the societal curriculum.

Literature review

Focal point of this study was to explore the effects of television media, as part of societal curriculum, on social value system. From the existing literature, the following text discusses and highlights the relationship and impact of mass media on the value system of any society.

Curriculum

From a broader perspective, rooted in Dewey's view, the curriculum can be defined as `dealing with the experiences of the learner' (Lunenburg & Ornstein, 2012, p. 367). It encompasses almost everything in the school, even outside as a part of the curriculum. For example, if we see the curriculum in broader sense, it is defined as "curriculum is all the experiences that learners have in the course of living" (Marsh & Willis, 2003, p.108). Moreover, Livingstone (1999) viewed curriculum as "any activity involving the pursuit of understanding, knowledge or skill which occurs outside the curricula of educational institutions, or the courses or workshops offered by educational or social agencies" (p.5). Informal learning embraces all learning that does not take place inside the formal and non-formal programmes and educational institutions i.e. outside their curricula (Talla, 2012).

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Mass media

The term media means middle, i.e. the connection of media and people. The mass media are the devices for the broadcast of impartial communications to a huge audience (Lule, 2010). Mass media means communication technology (newspapers, radio, television, films, and the Internet) that transfer information regarding social & political issues, news and entertainment, on a massive scale to the vast majority of the general public (Nielsen Media Research, 2008; Lule, 2010).

Television

In the industrialised world, watching television has now become ubiquitous pastime activity, which takes up more of our time than any other activity, except for work and sleep (Sigman, 2007). It can be found in homes, offices, restaurants and bedrooms, having become an integral part of our lives. It is a common observation that it has changed the financial and social patterns of the world (Besley, 2008). Television influences our views about religion, celebrity, politics, and fashions as well as all the culture and norms (Spingel, 1992).

Value system

Values are the guiding principles to live in a society or to the maintenance of social relationships, for example, what ethical principles are needed for society and the unethical practices which are harmful for the survival of a society. Generally speaking, value refers to the relative worth of a quality or object, being `what makes something desirable or undesirable' (Shockley-Zalabak 1999, p. 425). It is the fact that the value system is the backbone of any society (Faizi, 2010).

Being a Muslim, knowing Islam is initially a matter of faith. This faith stands for certain beliefs, including the belief in the unity of Allah (the Almighty), belief in the last prophet hood of Muhammad (SallallahuAlaihiWasallam), belief in the Holy Quraan and other Holy Books revealed by Almighty Allah to the Prophets from time to time, belief in Angels, belief in the life after death and belief in the destiny. All these beliefs constitute the Islamic value system and standards for living (Faizi, Shakil & Akhtar, 2011). This value system in Islam represents the standards on which we judge an action to be right or wrong. These value systems are classified as social, moral, and religious etc. (Faizi, Shakil & Akhtar, 2011).

Societal Curriculum: Effects of Television on Social Values System in Pakistani Society 78

Television and the Value System

Television is one of the most important factor in the formation of attitude, values and behavior (Besley, 2008). It is a social educator helping to shape social, emotional, and physical development (ibid). Television entertains and amuses its common viewers, but along with this, the need is to educate people as well. Television develops or influences the development of values for example, materialism, inequality and the status quo in the society (Sotirovic, 2005; Besley, 2008). Nevertheless, this is harmful from the point of view of moral education (Sotirovic, 2005). We see now that pro-social and materialistic values both exist in society that are conveyed through television media (Besley, 2008). Many times we see that television media convey and reflect such values which are in conflict with the values what an educational curriculum reflect. For example, keeping in view current situation, our society demands peace, nevertheless, it show violence through different programs. (Carr, 2006; Witenberg, 2007).

Rationale of the study

Clearly the media is a great source of informal education, playing a strong role in the transformation of values, culture and norms in a society. It has directional role in bringing social change and guiding the society to achieve the desired goals. It can successfully invigorate the change into rigid ideas and attitudes, and resultantly can transform the society in desired direction. Moreover, media is emerging as a strong and powerful tool in shaping the social values in the light of what we see on television advertisements, dramas/plays and news reports. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of today's television media particularly the advertisements, dramas/plays, and news reports on the social value systems in the context of Pakistani society.

Research Questions

? How does television as an important part of societal curriculum affect perceptions, attitudes and beliefs relating to social values?

? What are the views of the university students (the youth) about the effects of television media on the value system of Pakistani society?

Methodology

For the purpose of this research, a mixed method i.e. both quantitative and qualitative approaches, was designed to address the research questions.

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Population and sample

The population of the study was students studying in four public sector universities located in the cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

For the purpose of a survey (the quantitative part of research), 100 students were purposively selected from the targeted population. All the students have cable television subscription and are regular viewers of multiple television channels. The age range of the students was between 18 and 24 years, as this is the age group when youngsters are considered started knowing what the culture is and what values and norms must be followed. Moreover, the care was taken to ensure that the sample included respondents from all socio economic classes of the Pakistani society. Among the 100 students those who had consented, were invited to take part in the focus group discussions (qualitative part of the research). A total of 15 students volunteered for this part of the research and three focus group discussions were conducted i.e. five students in each group.

Survey questionnaire

For the survey, a questionnaire was developed in order to obtain the perceptions of students about the television as a societal curriculum. The questionnaire consisting of four parts, six items in each; part A had items relating to `television as informal curriculum', `part B contained items about television drama', part C has items regarding the `television advertisements', and finally the focus of part D was items on `television news'. Thus in total there were 24 items, which were scored on five point Likert scale as 5. Strongly Agree, 4. Agree, 3. Neutral, 2. Disagree, and 1. Strongly Disagree.

Validity and reliability of the questionnaire

To determine the content validity of the questionnaire, different experts were consulted and changes were made in accordance with their suggestions. After, the validity of the questionnaire was determined, the next step was to find out the reliability of the tool. The reliability in terms of internal consistency was calculated through Cronbach`s alpha, which is generally referred as the alpha coefficient of reliability. For this purpose a pilot study was conducted and the questionnaire was administered to 40 university students. The value of the Cronbach's alpha coefficient for these students' scores on the questionnaire was found to be 0.79, which indicated that the questionnaire was reliable for utilising in this research.

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Focus group discussions

In media studies, focus group discussion enable researcher to understand the reasons for a specific media consumption by the participants of the study (Lule, 2010). During the focus group discussions, participants establish group dynamics and researcher can judge their reactions to a particular media style and content (Lule, 2010).

Three focus group discussions were conducted with 15 students, i.e. five students in each group. A focus group guide was developed which covered a range of issues related to television media and its impact on societal value system. Students discussed in detail how they feel about the impact of television on the value system of Pakistani society, and this yielded qualitative data. Each focus group discussion was lasted for 30 to 45 minutes and were audio recorded with the permission of the participants. All the audio recordings were transcribed and analysed through coding and thematic analysis.

Results of the quantitative data

As explained above, a survey was conducted to find out the perceptions of students about the effects of television on the social value system in the Pakistani society. The participant students' responses were obtained on a five point Likert scale Questionnaire (detailed above). The data were analysed through descriptive statistics, which involved calculation of frequency and percentages. The item wise analysis is presented below.

Table 1

Participants responses about television as an informal curriculum (n=100)

Items

Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree

Disagree

Television has become a pastime

30%

0%

0% 30%

activity.

Television is intentionally

0%

0%

50% 30%

Unintentionally eye catching

informal curriculum.

Television has become important

0%

20%

30% 30%

part of our life.

Television has a great impact on

0%

30%

40% 20%

daily routine.

One can't deny exposure and

20%

15%

15% 20%

importance of television.

Television affects societal values. 0%

0%

30%

55%

Strongly Agree 40% 20%

20% 10% 30%

15%

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Table 1, presented the participants' responses regarding whether they considered television as being an informal curriculum. There was a mixed response, when we combined `agree' and `strongly agree' responses together, it appeared that 50% of the participants agreed that television has become important part of their lives and an important component of societal curriculum. Only 30% agreed that television has an impact on their daily routines whereas the majority, 70% agreed that it affects the value system of our society.

Table 2

Participants' responses about television dramas/plays (n=100)

Items

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Drama is an art and entertainment.

0%

45%

Neutral 20%

Agree 20%

Strongly Agree 15%

Drama is informal learning what

0%

20% 0% 55% 25%

message they convey.

Drama is helpful in promoting our

0%

50% 30% 20% 0%

culture and societal values.

Today's Drama is raising social issues

0%

50% 30% 20% 0%

for social awareness among people.

Television drama has a great effect on

0%

our language.

Drama without any objective is

0%

responsible for spreading offensiveness.

0%

0% 60% 40%

0%

0% 60% 40%

Table 2 showed the results regarding the students' responses on the role of television dramas, here 80% agreed that drama was an informal source of learning, 50% of the respondents disagreed that the drama was promoting our cultural and societal values and 50% disagreed that drama was creating awareness about social issues, while, 100% participants agreed that drama on television was affecting our daily language usage and also responsible for spreading offensiveness.

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Table 3

Participants' responses about television Advertisement (n=100)

Items

Strongly Disagree Neutral

Disagree

Television advertisements are

0%

30%

20%

important part of life.

Television advertisement contains

0%

25%

25%

statements that are false, deceptive,

untruthful, or misleading.

TVCs encourage adoption of

0%

0%

0%

unethical ways of fulfilling

materialistic desires.

Comparison with idealized images 0%

0%

0%

shown in advertisements

encourages lower satisfaction with

the self.

Television advertisement affects

0%

0%

0%

the time tested and religiously

accepted principles of our society.

Television advertisements are

0%

0%

50%

responsible for negative

stereotypes of women, e.g.

portrayal of women as sex objects,

homemaker etc

Agree 50% 50% 50% 50%

50% 30%

Strongly Agree

0% 0%

50%

50%

50%

20%

Table 3 showed the results in relation to the students' responses on the role of television advertisements, here 50% agreed that television advertisements contained false, deceptive, untruthful and misleading statements, whilst 100% of the respondents concurred that the advertisements encourage adoption of unethical ways of fulfilling materialistic desires, and affecting the time-tested and religiously accepted principles of our society. Moreover, 50% of the respondents agreed that advertisements were responsible for the negative stereotypes of women in society.

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